ToughButterCup

Yes, but the details will have to remain private. If I could annonomise our detailed numbers, I would publish them. But it feels like inappropriate disclosure to detail every small transaction. Its too 'exposing'. Many people lurk on BuildHub. Broadly, - taking out the costs of the collapse - we are on target for £1745:00 per square meter (More than double @nod's figures) Dunno whether - for an complete novice - thats good or bad . It kind of doesn't matter because once you start the project, there's precious few exit points. You just have to keep going. Discussion of costs is always complex because there's no standardised way of accounting for them. What is a legitimate cost centre for a self build? Phone bills? Garden gnomes? Travel to Planning Department Council meetings? So you use the HMRC list (of allowable costs for VAT purposes) as a basis, but that misses out very large cost centres. So I used @Jeremy Harris's model as a starting point and adapted that in the light of a couple of other spreadsheet models. The other thing - of which I'm certain - is that I've made errors in calculation. How large they are, I'm not sure, but tiredness alone will account for some - or many - errors. Now, those errors don't matter. We're nearly done building, I'm already looking for something else that pushes me really hard. Its got to be both hard physical work and intellectually challenging. To answer @KayleyH directly, the good bit isn't stopping, it isn't the house on its own, its the process of getting from idea to reality. Once I 'get there' , I for one have to find something apprpriate for a 68 year old to keep pushing myself.

That's the delight. No. It's her smile ....

Just clearing the site today and it occured to me as I filled the skip (last one?) I know what I paid for every bit of 'rubbish' I threw away ? The early evening sunset on the cladding knowing everything about a house knowing I can pull myself up from major disasters being grateful for all the friendship of the vast majority of (chatty) passers-by. the banter on BH knowing what some locals really think of the house, as opposed to what they say in public fora all the well-meaning advice from everyone who offered it the silence from those passers-by manage to read my non-verbal cues @SteamyTea, @PeterW, @Stones, @ProDave, @Dudda, @jack, @Moonshine, @scottishjohn, @pocster, @Onoff , @Jeremy Harris, @Construction Channel, @the_r_sole, @Crofter, @Ferdinand, @MikeSharp01, @newhome , @Declan52, the Mods, The Foundation Group (I've missed some I'm sure) , all people who have bothered to give me their time and thought my mates who come round and (mostly) help. If you buy a digger, they just want the keys. the ability to keep going under pressure: if I didn't have that pressure, I'd become a fat(ter) slob the knowledge that I'm probably over-priviledged: at least very very lucky. Retiring the day we got PP and done nowt else but this for the last 5 / 6 years. I've lost count of the passers by who stop and talk wistfully about their dream of being able to do what I have That gorgeous lass who jogs past the site in top to toe super-tight lycra, smiles widely, says Hi. She melts my withers every damn time. That do ya?

Did you mean Torx Head Spax screws? Because if you did, so have I. Expensive. Thats why I pick the buggers up.

Yep: you've never ever got the right width, length, head type, drive type, metal type . Ever. Universal Law (Newtonian discovery) . Including screws in stock in Builder's Merchants. So the formula is; Use what's in the (bottom of your tool bag, + nick your dad's screws ) when he's not looking, * (pick up every dropped screw) Or more simply : RSS = (BTB + DS) * (AllDropped Screws) I discovered this just when I started to suffer from Osteo Arthritis - its the (pick up every dropped screw) that's the hard bit.

In haste, yes, there is on this site In the site search engine, use the search term 'spreadsheet' wont take you long to find and download it. Google will find it too. Ian

Thanks @Declan52. Problem solved. What it is to have mates who know their way round machinery eh? He popped round , sat in the cab, grinning his head off , gave it a huge amount of revs and slammed the arm into the release position. Bob's Yer Uncle, Fanny's Yer Aunt. Celebratory coffee. Christ I've learned a lot on this build. Aside: A common thread with the practical problems on site ... almost all of them occur when I am really tired - I've worked another 21 stretch. Not a good idea. How many times do I have to go round this desert to learn the lesson?

Monday morning hissing down with rain, eyes full of sleep and I've autohitched the bucket on the wrong crossbar Anyone know how I might be able dig myself out of this hole......? Pretty please.... When I try to unhitch it, the auto-ram system doesn't engage .

Hi. Come on then, what's behind the screen name? I mean for a start, you've more than your fair share of letter Ks.....?

No. But if they can, they will. If you are asking yourself the question, then in all likelihood, they will

Ahhh @CalvinHobbes, best thing now is to go and do a freefall course. Then when you've done that, train to be a lion tamer. Scare the sheet out of yourself. Distraction is what's needed now. Keep yourself too busy to care. Hard work. Then in a few months, check the Decision Notice.

I can't provide a technical answer. This may well be one of those FerFookSake moments. If your assessment is correct, you are well shot of that brickie. He left before the embarrassing error became public. Gutless twerp.

I know I have committed theft, but I thieved it fair and square so ... This is part of the image from the linked article above. The average Lancastrian would call this a Tarred-Out-House Oh, go on then, a FookinShitHouse....

Thinking that (local) Planners care about your planning application Neighbourhood objections Listening to idiots on the Parish Council citing invalid objectings to your development. Waiting for a planning application Decision Notice Failure to plan in sufficient detail Architects designing what they want , not what you want Charlatan trades folk. Trades who do not answer the phone, or return your call in a timely manner Weather Changing your mind about important stuff after you have started building your 'dream' extension Any trade that does not do what it says it will do, - on time - on budget - on specification. Invoices with so little detail that even a saint would become suspicious Builders who charge VAT on a self-build supply and fit contract - and who will not be told that domestic clients are not charged VAT Not having a sense of humour Welcome by the way! That'll do for starters. Waste time on BH. Time well spent.

Ok, here goes. A bit of context first. Ferdi refers to a wedgie above That may well be about my efforts at putting in joists. I was doing soooo well, and then this happened .... With a bit of luck that should send a sip of tea through yer nostrils ...

I wish I could remember the name (and be able to reference the post) of the member who on encountering similar problems to yours, wrote that in his experience as a senior exec of an international building company , the self build sector was (I remember this bit ) '... the most dysfunctional (sector) I have ever experienced ...' Honestly, you are in excellent company here. One creative, positive way of using the delay is to plan in ever greater detail. And that bloody reminds me SWMBO changed her mind again about where she wants shelves and electricity sockets. Shes only had 4 years to make up her mind. I'm 68, and still find some jokes hard to take.

How to put this gently? Your experience is common. Normal. Sorry, but there it is. Don't be annoyed with yourself, I would guess that more than 50% of us have all had the same experience. Annoyance goes with the territory. @Ferdinand will be along in a minnit to put it more elegantly. Ian

Same situation; slightly different build up to it, but essentially the same. That forced a parting of the ways and , to cite @epsilonGreedy, DIYmax. 4 full years on, still not finished. The key thing: can't emphasise this enough is a supportive partner. The stress she has had to endure is significant: it's the powerlessness - the lack of control - which is so jangling. Especially when professionally we have been used to technical excellence and delivering to high professional standards and tight budgets. But never once have we regretted parting with the builder.

Exactly. Which is why the micropolitics of Planning matters. It really matters.

It is nowhere - and that's one of the factors that contributes, I think, to a Stuff-The-Planners approach. At that location, think desert with wind in it. Others who live there follow Planning regulations I sure . But if everyone in a remote location felt they could build without hindrance, many would. That road over the moor is stunningly pretty (when there's no mist and rain). Walkers regularly get lost on the ridge paths (in this case it might be The Burnley Way) - before you know it, you are in some steep-sided valley and completely disorientated. It's lonely, can be moody. And living up there means high dependence on neighbours. That in turn means strangers are viewed with more than a quizzical eye. I can quite see where the "Well aaahm jus' gonna fookin' doit, sod em" comes from. The point made by the Planner (in this case and in general) in terms of sustainability (the development is in an unstainable location) seems to me to be weakening. For those whose job is desk-based, we can all (even there) now connect to the Internet and get our food delivered.

Coming down off that ridge (via the Long Causeway) into East Lancs, its easy to imagine why the builder hoped to get away with it. The valley is deeply incised, full of hidden almost secret nooks and crannies. Beautiful. Living right next to someone who is doing the exact same thing - he built a house INSIDE a caravan (the Inspectorate are on the case) - the common aspect seems to be to the desire to shut out the rest of the world. I have some sympathy with that desire. But not quite enough to condone breaking the law.

Vee do Spoonerisms insted..

'S German innit.... wadja expect ? Vorsprung durch Schnellerarbeit (High speed work)

I painted it as a favour.....?

The other way of looking at it: it's a unique, if expensive design. Coffee anyone?